Special Squad 

An elite division of the Victoria Police handles crimes too sensitive for regular squads

Stars:

John Diedrich, Alan Cassell, Anthony Hawkins

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
John Diedrich	...	Joel Davis 40 episodes, 1984-1985
Alan Cassell	...	Det. Insp. Don Anderson 40 episodes, 1984-1985
Anthony Hawkins	...	Greg Smith 40 episodes, 1984-1985
Paul Dawber	...	Special Operative Johnson / ... 15 episodes, 1984-1985

Storyline

Special Squad-an elite group of crime fighters trained to a high degree of mental and physical stamina and backed by the most sophisticated electronic technology available. Don Anderson is the tough, straight, better than good detective. His men is the Special Squad call him the Boss, although he's still a street cop working out there, where the danger is, with his team. The Squad is trained to break major crime. Anderson's "team" is Greg Smith and Joel Davis. As a cop, Smith is built like a tank, and he's ready to go through the door first every time. He knows, and is known by, every crook in and out of town. He also knows the rules and how far he can bend them. David has the charm of a diplomat, but he keeps fit like a football player. He needs to because they are always on the attack. Anderson, Smith and Davis are great partners when it comes to sorting out trouble. A prison break. Gangland revenge. Gambling. Vice. Murder. Drug- running. Robbery. Major, violent, deadly trouble.

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Plot Keywords:

police | 

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Taglines:

It Takes a Special Breed of Cop to Take Aim at Violent Crime

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

The helicopter seen in the opening credits was a real police helicopter at the time the show was produced. It was an Aerospatiale SA.365C1 Dauphin 2 that belonged to Victoria Police from 1979 and was decommissioned in 2001. It's dramatic, high-performance takeoff was achieved by having only the pilot on board, making it nose-heavy and light. The pilot was a real police pilot. The helicopter, registered VH-PVF, was stripped of valuable parts and in 2013 is in New South Wales where it is being restored by a private owner for static display.

User Reviews

Professionals Down Under

Enjoyable series that never made the prime time in the UK. Anyone viewing it and familiar with The Professionals would soon spot the similarities.

Grizzled older authority figure sending the younger guys out to do the legwork. Another carry-over was the use of Ford vehicles (did the producers have a deal?). Bodie & Doyle had their boy-racer Escorts and Capris. The Special Squad had their Falcons - looking to British eyes like a Granada (though actually a somewhat different vehicle I found out later, superficial similarities only).

It seems to me (thinking back 20 years!) that the credits listed Professionals producers Brian Clemens and Albert Fennell but IMDb.com does not mention this, maybe I'm mistaken.

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

1984 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Brigada Especial

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crawford Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min (43 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1